Family Friend

As Emily Kerstetter and her fellow church mission members enjoyed a meal at an Ethiopian restaurant in Uganda, the 16-year-old Ellicott City resident told her new friends that she wanted to stay and work through the rest of the summer. She had already extended her trip once, opting out of her original flight that departed five days earlier. She was ready for more. Minutes later, a suicide bomber struck outside the restaurant, one of two attacks in the Ugandan capital of Kampala that killed at least 74 people and wounded 85 others, including Emily, her grandmother and three other members of her group.

Peggy M. Boellner, a homemaker who enjoyed cooking and entertaining family and friends, died June 7 of complications from a fall at her Timonium home. She was 83. The daughter of a public works employee and a homemaker, Peggy Marie Wax was born and raised in Norton, Va. During World War II, she moved to Baltimore with her family and attended Southern High School. While working at a Read Drug and Chemical Co. pharmacy in the 2100 block of E. Monument St., she met and fell in love with her future husband.

As Emily Kerstetter and her fellow church mission members enjoyed a meal at an Ethiopian restaurant in Uganda, the 16-year-old Ellicott City resident told her new friends that she wanted to stay and work through the rest of the summer. She had already extended her trip once, opting out of her original flight that departed five days earlier. She was ready for more. Minutes later, a suicide bomber struck outside the restaurant, one of two attacks in the Ugandan capital of Kampala that killed at least 74 people and wounded 85 others, including Emily, her grandmother and three other members of her group.

On May 9, Dennis Lane stopped for lunch with companions at Clyde's of Columbia, one of his favorite spots. Folks say you wouldn't have to see him to know he was there because you'd hear the big laugh, or see the crowd of people around him, sharing views of local politics, business, the latest beer available in growlers in Ellicott City. That night, the writer and commercial real estate broker-consultant posted to "Tales of Two Cities," the blog about Ellicott City and Columbia he'd been writing steadily since 2006.

On the day before he was charged with first-degree murder, George Huguely V walked the fairways and greens of Charlottesville's exclusive Farmington Country Club, the Blue Ridge Mountains at his back. The University of Virginia men's lacrosse team, ranked best in the nation, had just won the last regular-season game of Huguely's senior year. The 22-year-old and some teammates had gathered at the club with their fathers to celebrate the storybook ending and to look forward to the NCAA tournament.

Philadelphia police as well as dozens of friends and relatives were searching Sunday for Roswell Friend, a 22-year-old recent graduate of Temple University who went missing last week after going for a run. A native of Cockeysville who attended Dulaney High School, Friend was last seen around 7 p.m. Thursday. Police searched his home near the university and found his wallet and car keys. Only his house keys were missing. Unabyrd Wadhams, a family friend, said Friend was an athlete at Dulaney and also at Temple, where he ran cross country.

In the hours, then days, after her teenage sister went missing during a Christmas visit, Deena Barnes remembers the gripping panic that took over — staying up for two days straight, on the edge of the couch, waiting to catch a glimpse of 16-year-old Phylicia returning to the Northwest Baltimore apartment from which she vanished without a trace. Six months later, the family is without answers. Though Phylicia's body was recovered in April from a river 45 miles northeast of Baltimore, the case remains open, and family members fear the trail is growing cold.

A 14-year-old boy was charged as an adult with murder last night after a 12-year-old boy who was shot Thursday night died at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.Officers charged Anthony Jawara Mayo of the 2300 block of E. Biddle St. after Terrell Antwant Forbes died at the Hopkins center at 6:30 p.m., according to a police spokesman.The suspect, known on the street as "Wa Wa," was being held at the Eastern District station.Terrell was shot at his home in the 2400 block of E. Fayette St. A weapon has not been found, said Agent Robert W. Weinhold Jr., the city police spokesman.

After deliberating six hours yesterday, a Carroll County Circuit Court jury convicted a 43-year-old Westminster man of sexually molesting two of his nieces and the daughter of a family friend more than 50 times over the last five years.The seven-woman, three-man jury returned guilty verdicts on three counts of child abuse, two counts of second-degree sex offense, four counts of third-degree sex offense, two counts of perverted practice and five counts of battery.The defendant showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the son of a 91-year-old woman found stabbed to death in her Northeast Baltimore home was a close friend of her family and called the crime "devastating. " "I have known her son since I was a child — he was close friends with my family, so this is devastating. It's senseless," Rawlings-Blake said at a Thursday morning event. "My hope is that the work that was done, the forensic work, we'll be able to figure out who did this very soon and bring that person to justice.

As summer began last year, with the Grand Prix of Baltimore about three months away, organizers had sold no tickets. They had landed no sponsorships. And they hadn't put out a single advertisement. Financier J.P. Grant and his group, Race On LLC, swooped in to save a troubled race - which one business had left in financial ruin and another failed to even launch - and pulled off what Grant called a "90-day miracle. " This year, they say they won't need divine intervention.

For Theresa Mills, the "most emotional day" came last June when the Marine Corps notification team visited her Laurel home to tell her that her older son had been killed in Afghanistan. The second most emotional day, she said, came Monday. In the morning, Mills traveled to Timonium, where Lance Cpl. Eugene C. Mills III was one of seven Marylanders honored at the annual Memorial Day observance at Dulaney Valley Memorial Gardens. In the afternoon, she planned to see off her younger son, Jake, who was scheduled to leave Monday evening for Marine Corps boot camp at Parris Island, S.C. In between, she said she was "emotional, very emotional.

The flowers left in condolence are a kind but painful reminder that De'ontae Smith is gone, as is the funeral program his mother carries around to remember the boy stabbed to death downtown just hours after the Baltimore Ravens' Super Bowl victory parade. Chevita Bumbrey and her husband, Donae Wright, have struggled with De'ontae's conspicuous absence. He could usually be found slouching on the couch playing video games or dancing the "mump" to rap music - shuffling wide-legged on the wood floor.

For most people, the attractions of Christmas do not include the possibility of children roasting over an open fire. But that has not kept Engelbert Humperdinck's "Hansel and Gretel" from becoming a favorite opera at Christmastide. Based on a vivid tale by the Brothers Grimm and first performed Dec. 23, 1893, Humperdinck's most famous opera does, of course, feature lots of talk and images of sweets, notably gingerbread. So it's easy to make a seasonal tie-in, which is what Washington National Opera did over the weekend with a revival of its 2007 family-friendly production.

Finding family-friendly DIY projects What are some winter home improvement projects that are family-friendly? What are the projects that are safer for children to participate? Painting is the most family-friendly project out there. And interior painting in the winter is always a great way to spruce things up. Take time to cover and mask areas that you do not want covered in paint, as children will be learning and may spill a bit. I recommend using water-born paints with Low VOCs such as Clark+Kensington.

It is unbelievably sad that Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself ("The tragedy of Jovan Belcher," Dec. 4). The couple had a 3-month-old baby, and it's heart-wrenching when something like this happens. It brings me to tears every time I think of it because it didn't have to end this way. Severe mental illness does not have to end in suicide and murder for the victims and pain for those left behind. Sadly, men are more likely to use lethal weapons like guns when they attempt suicide.

Upon request, Alfred Goodman Sr. would pull out his medals and show them to anyone interested in learning about his stint in the Army. Goodman, 61, lost both his legs fighting during the Vietnam War, but he cherished his time in the service. "He was proud," said Edward Carter, a longtime family friend. "And he just showed me his Purple Heart" on Wednesday. Goodman, his son by the same name and a 19-year-old woman were killed early Thursday morning in a fire in the 3500 block of Woodbrook Ave., a block away from Mondawmin Mall in West Baltimore.

A 10-year-old girl who had been reported missing after leaving home Christmas Day returned unharmed to her East Baltimore home yesterday, and police said no foul play was involved.Eugenia Ransom showed up at her home in the 200 block of S. Chapel St. about 5:15 p.m. after a family friend -- a 50-year-old man who is the son of her baby sitter -- dropped her off near her home, police said.The child wasn't injured and had not been abducted, police said.Her mother told police last night that the ordeal amounted to a misunderstanding between the man and the family, investigators said.

Suzanna "Sue" Miller, whom friends called "Mrs. Baltimore" for her role in selling homes to those moving here, died of pneumonia Saturday at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. The Pikesville resident was 80. "She was an irreplaceable person," said Lynne R. Miller, who with her husband, Dr. Edward D. Miller, former Johns Hopkins Medicine chief executive officer, was a close friend. "She brought together so many people. She was such an ambassador for Baltimore, we called her and her husband Mr. and Mrs. Baltimore.

Horse racing history comes alive in Havre de Grace for the fifth annual Graw Days Festival celebration with live music, delicious food, family-friendly games, hand-crafted items, and of course, horses from the Susquehanna State Park Mounted Patrol. “This festival combines history with entertainment. La Banque de Fleuve will have historical items like the original paintings of famous horses, racing forms from period horse racing and silks from famous riders,” says co-chair of the Graw Days Festival, Irmgarde Brown.